Record donations to the 1996 Clinton-Gore campaign. White House coffees.
Boasts of Oval Office influence. Potential quid pro quo for campaign cash.
It's not China this time, but the scandal involving America's westernmost
territory of Guam mimics its Pacific Rim neighbor

Three weeks after First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton's visit to Guam on
September 4, 1995, the Guam Democratic Party delivered a $250,000 donation
to the Democratic National Committee. Guam gave almost $900,000 to Clinton-Gore
reelection efforts in all. In fact, Guam was the largest per-capita donor
of any U.S. jurisdiction to the 1996 Clinton-Gore campaign, averaging $10
per person on the small island. According to the Wall Street Journal, "Even
Guam government workers making at or near the minimum wage were 'encouraged'
to contribute to the presidential race."

In December 1996, the Clinton Administration indicated it was rethinking
long-held government opposition to giving Guam more autonomy on immigration
and labor regulation and returning some of the land currently controlled
by the Department of Defense. The International Herald Tribune quoted an
unnamed government official who said, "We had always opposed giving
Guam autonomy over its immigration. But when that [money] was paid, the
political side switched." The Clinton Administration reversed itself
again, however, when Guam Governor Carl Gutierrez (D) publicly bragged about
Oval Office meetings with the President when delivering the campaign donations
in Washington.

Governor Gutierrez also has campaign problems of his own. In his recent
reelection, it was discovered that 571 voters were not U.S. citizens, 151
voters used a single Social Security number and 1,312 ballots were not counted
because they did not vote in the governor's race. A three-judge federal
appeals court panel ruled unanimously that Gutierrez's 51% majority was
questionable enough to necessitate a runoff. The runoff has not yet been
scheduled, but is expected to take place before the end of June. In the
last election, Gutierrez spent $4 million, ten times more than his Republican
opponent former governor Joseph Ada.

Teachers Unions Required to Be Honest With Members

A combination of eight California school districts and local teachers
union affiliates are presently barred from collecting any union membership
dues until completely audited financial disclosures are completed to ensure
that teachers who are not union members but still pay compulsory dues are
not overcharged.

Previous court opinions protecting the rights of workers who do not wish
to officially join a union require union leaders to provide audited financial
disclosures to those workers detailing how their mandatory dues are spent.
These workers cannot be forced to pay for union expenses involving political
action, lobbying or anything not directly related to collective bargaining.
In this case, the union affiliates argued they did not need to provide disclosures
because they were part of the statewide California Teachers Association
(CTA) union.

In his ruling, however, Judge Charles Legge of the U.S. District Court
for Northern California said the union affiliates could not use "local
presumption" to get out of the audit requirement. Furthermore, he said
the school districts were liable because they are obligated to protect teachers'
constitutional rights.

"These teachers are entitled to an accounting of the union's books
before their paychecks are raided by the political operatives of the CTA
and its affiliates," said Stefan Gleason of the National Right to Work
Legal Foundation, which represented the teachers in this case.

Campaign Finance Factoids

Teamsters "Will Not Be an ATM Machine for the Democratic
Party"

New Teamsters President James P. Hoffa, Jr. has indicated he plans to
radically change the political strategy of his union, saying he "intend[s]
to approach issues from both sides of the aisle." In an interview
with the Associated Press after his swearing in, Hoffa declared, "We
will not be an ATM machine for the Democratic Party." In the 1998
election cycle, the Teamsters gave approximately $2 million to Democratic
candidates and just $151,800 to Republicans.

When challenged by Republican moderates in Congress to allow a quick
vote on new campaign finance regulations, House Speaker Dennis Hastert
(R-IL) is quoted as saying the Shays-Meehan bill - which bans "soft
money," regulates certain ads and strengthens disclosure requirements
- is "unilateral disarmament" for Republicans because it does
not include "paycheck protection" for workers opposed to organized
labor using their dues to support Democratic candidates. Hastert said the
bill would not likely reach the House floor until September.

NEA Tramples Internal Movement for Political Choice

National Education Association (NEA) delegate Ed Weber, with the reported
support of at least 50 others, recently proposed an amendment to the union's
bylaws to allow members "to designate where the political contribution
portion of their dues money is to be allocated." An NEA committee
ruled it "out of order" because "no dues money is used for
that purpose." Financial disclosures to the U.S. Supreme Court, however,
indicate as much as 40% of the NEA's general fund is spent on activities
unrelated to collective bargaining - including politics. The Education
Intelligence Agency's Communique newsletter noted, "By quashing Weber's
amendment, [the] NEA avoids what would have been a very interesting secret
ballot vote on the conduct of its political activity."

Political Money Monitor is published by The
National Center for Public Policy Research to provide information on campaign
finance and political choice issues. Coverage of an event or article in
Political Money Monitor does not imply endorsement by The National Center
for Public Policy Research. Copyright 1999 The National Center for Public
Policy Research. Reprints of articles in Political Money Monitor are permitted
provided source is credited.